The last days before Christmas Break!

Theresa and I were trying to design noses for the reindeer in our Christmas Program.

Traditional Eskimo boots the fourth-graders from another class wore in the program.

Becca, me, and Theresa in our Qaspaqs. Stephanie made me this beautiful green one with a gathered skirt added to it. Qaspaqs are their traditional formal wear and when you wear one you get compliments all day long! :) "Ohh so nice, Miss!" "Oh so beautiful. Who made?" "So Pretty!"

We think we're strong. Jadon's mom was the one who made me my very first qaspaq in time to wear it for the program!

My classroom aftermath after the night of the Christmas Program. However, I wish I would have taken an after picture to compare. It's drastically cleaner now.

10:30 AM- Field trip to the Post Office of Alakanuk! Theresa and I have penpals with the students I used to student teach and know at Walnut Grove Elementary in WA. We thought it would be fun to go learn more about the USPS on our last day before Winter Break.

If you asked the kids what the most impressive part of the field trip was, they would probably tell you it was our wonderful postmaster, Ruth. She amazed them by letting them quiz her on the fact that she has every 311 PO Box memorized. The student would say, "What about mine?" "What about my box?" and she got it right each time. If she didn't recognize them (they were all bundled up in winter gear), she'd ask them to remind her of their parents and then say the PO number. The kids' reactions were priceless; they would fall silent and widen their eyes while smiling.

I've also always been impressed with how Ruth learned my name so quickly, would allow my mail to be put in Theresa's instead of the school's box when I first moved up to Alakanuk, and always has a friendly smile on her face. I can honestly say going to the PO is always a pleasant experience even if we don't have mail for a few days. She has a couple other helpers in the PO, but works there most of the time.

Below, I get to see my PO Box from their point of view.

On Friday before break, Agnes, our classroom elder, gave me a gift. I opened it to reveal a qaspaq-- beautiful blue, with navy and metallic trim and handmade drawstring. I am honored to have such a loving, talented, generous woman in my life!

Below, she also made Josh an amazing hat with blue corduroy and a really pretty fur lining.

On Saturday, I and 5 other people tried to get out of Alakanuk to leave for Christmas. However, no planes were going to be leaving AUK that day due to fog. Our only chance was to snowmachine about 10 miles to Emmonak-- hurry up and wait for our flight to go out of Emmonak. (EMO has more instruments and a better set-up for taking off and landing.)

When we were checking in to the little EMO airport, my name got mixed up on the receipt as "Jana Durkeyle" which must have originated from her looking at the last name next to it on the list "Purkeypile." I was a little concerned she might have mistaken us for one person and combined us and that we wouldn't have enough room on the plane. But, she had just made a simple mistake and did have us both on the list.

However, we received news a little later that they were legally obligated to carry 600 extra pounds of fuel in case weather was bad and they couldn't land in Bethel. That was very bad news since that meant we had to cut some people of the flight. We all knew that this was quite possibly the last plane to get out for a few days if the low front kept moving in.

Clark and Becca altruistically volunteered to stay behind and wait for another plane. Luckily after much praying and many phone calls. They arrived safe and sound about 5 hours later-- still in time for our evening flight. Meanwhile the weather in Bethel, was changing quicker than a runway model. The large plane coming in from Anchorage to pick up the afternoon group had circled twice and headed back to Anchorage due to fog.

We didn't want to think about not being able to fly out that night. The airport in Bethel would shut down at 9PM and the cheapest hotel was 150 dollars. Someone we know had been stuck there a few nights before. He said that the hotel was the worst he had ever seen, and he is even from a Cuba, a third-world country.

Luckily, the temperature dropped even more and so did the fog. I let Clark know after security those 45 steps from the terminal to the Alaska Airlines plane were quite possibly the best steps of my life. He just asked incredulously, "You counted?"

My flight was delayed about 45 minutes out of Anchorage to Seattle. I finally slept on that flight.

And now? I'm home sweet home at my parents.

Posted on a facebook status at about 10AM this morning, " "Honey I'm ho-ho-home!" -quote from our little Santa at the Christmas Program .............. But, really. It has been so crazy to see trees, and daylight, and a wintery fat dog and cat, and a stairway, and a real Christmas tree, and water than can't get any better from the tap, etc. It's great to be in my very own bed ...in Winlock, WA!"

Christmas time in the village

After a day of laying in the chair, gargling salt water, and taking my antibiotics to try cure my tonsillitis, I decided to get up and utilize the branches my mom had brought me in Anchorage. The smell of fir and cedar brought me warm memories of my parents' property.



I've since changed the swag and wreath to have Christmas decorations.

Christmas Time in the Village:

When my key to PO Box 236 turns, it is common to find an empty cold metal compartment. But, nothing can warm it up faster than cheery loving Christmas cards! I am so blessed to have people who have wished me a wonderful season of love. Thank you to everyone who has been thinking of me while I am in this new place.

One of my favorite things about this season in Alakanuk is that the fine crystals of snow twirl to the ground while the warm pink glow from the sunrise and sunset filters through the low trees. The cold air pushes a gradient of pink, purple, blue, gray, and white along the horizon.

Our Thanksgiving was held in the gym with some of the other kassaq teachers (us white-folk, non-natives, and a non-offensive term). We had some good food, but I'll be honest and say it was hard to Skype (free online video conferencing) my family and see them with Pumpkin-Spiced coffee and mom's homemade rolls. I still appreciated a White Thanksgiving. (I was saying that I love White Christmases, so a White Thanksgiving is a huge treat in my book. I wasn't referring to the fact it was "White" Thanksgiving. I realized that could be perceived as a tactless statement.)

My personal favorite thanksgiving food is my mother's stuffing. I love turkey dipped in mashed potatoes as glue to stick to corn and stuffing. When I asked the kids in my class what they liked to eat for their Thanksgiving meals, they said turkey, swan, goose, aqutaq (eskimo ice cream), fried bread (I've tried that... it's amazing!), jello, and many more. Sounds like they have their family favorites and specialties just we do in our family.

Speaking of getting the kids' input, yesterday we were preparing a skit for the Christmas Program with Theresa's class. I was retyping some lyrics to make it more relevant to them. We wanted to switch a different historical figure other than Columbus. So while the kids were working on their costumes and props, Theresa asked them who was really important in history. Their only responses and in this order were "Santa, Abraham Lincoln, God, and Michael Jordan."

The Christmas program is tonight. With our class combined, we have 26 kids on stage at the same time. Theresa and I wrote the play specially for our students. Although the kids may struggle with saying their lines into the microphone, I hope the parents/audience will enjoy the humor and hard work. However, I hope my students show up. Some are bummed that their parents aren't attending for various reasons (some parents just don't feel it is important enough to be around for it and I feel for the several kids who are dealing with that upset).

I'm surprised how fast time has flown by. After Christmas Break, we'll have two weeks left of the second quarter. Collectively, the students have excelled in overcoming obstacles, becoming more independent, and increasing respect for themselves and others. However, most of those aren't standards I can check off and aren't quantifiable on a report card. Next quarter I've got plenty to focus on and I hope that I can get lots of work done tomorrow before that plane comes to pick us up on Saturday!

Thanksgiving in the gym with friends-- Theresa, Me, Becca, and Amy

Look what we found behind the Native Store? A Kia!
We loved the Target Lady commercials-- she pumped us up for Black Friday sales at... Native Store! (Disclaimer: There are really no such sales in Alakanuk, AK)

Some of my favorite smiley boys on a small 270 snowmachine and a sled. They were following us. We were in a sled, also! This is how you get bulk groceries from where they're dropped off to our house.

Theresa and my Christmas tree in the middle of the living room. About $900.00 of a tree. :)

Coming Home to Alakanuk

Sometimes you need friends to laugh at inside jokes, play a favorite game, or listen when you're torn and far away from family. And sometimes... friends are there for you when you least expect-- such as when you return from a trip (with a sore throat for the 7th day after sitting in the St. Mary's airport for 7 hours to finally make it home through a storm) and your room has been pranked.
I fumbled with my icy/muddy suitcase over the feet of a crowded living room where they were watching a movie and flipped on my light switch. My eyes widened when I found that my dresser and night stand were pushed facing against the wall. I surveyed the room and knew it must have been Josh. I had found diapers in someone's mailbox in the office at school and put them in his and they got passed around with a few laughs. I looked at the rest of the room and said out loud, "Where is my bed? It can't be in the clos-" as I opened my closet door and saw that, yes, it IS possible to fit my mattress and box spring into my closet.
Since I was too tired and sick to try put my room back together, I camped out in the guest room for a week. But, after Becca and Clark and Theresa decided to give me some oomph, we cleaned out the guest room and my room. Now, the guest room doesn't look like the backroom of a Goodwill and my room looks even more like a ROOM. As I was weeding out some junk I thought for sure I would someday need and never did, Becca thought to try using a shower curtain as an actual curtain. I'm impressed with her fine eye. So what if white tacks are a makeshift rod? And a nail and a rubber band can be stylish. Clark reminded me we live in the bush. We make do with what we have. And I think we did a pretty job.
I also had Clark screw in the hook for my rice lamp (Which by the way, if anyone ever needs to move 4000 miles away, a rice lamp can fold up to be quite petite and light!).
Yes, that is a burlap sack hanging on the wall. The walls get VERY white and plain at times. I thought I'd make of this "packing material" from one of our bush orders (a bush order is a large grocery order we all collaborate with and get shipping bypassed for supposedly quicker and cheaper shipping). Plus, it's from Brasil, which brings back fond memories of last summer!

Although the prank came at an inconvenient time since I was worn out, tired, and sick, some good did come out of it. Now my room feels a little more livable and also a little more lovable.

My trip to "town"

The morning of my flights to Anchorage, I awoke in pain. I tried to call the clinic to see if I could go in again to jumpstart my antibiotics with a "poke". My throat was getting worse and even though I had tested negative for strep, I knew it was bad news that it hadn't started healing. I also thought I would have time to get a quick shower in before heading to the clinic and then the airport. However, I thought wrong.

In bush Alaska, I wasn't surprised when I couldn't get through to the clinic or that the Era Alaska agent called me to tell me my plane was landing soon (almost an hour and a half early) and that I needed to get out to the airport. They also asked me that since I lived close to Amy (another teacher who had coincidentally scheduled doctors appointments the same weekend) and I knew she was flying, too, to let her know our flight was coming soon.
Since I have not perfected how to quickly throw on snow-clothes, I did it as quickly as I could and lugged my suitcase and empty cooler to the school in hopes of a ride to the airport. I waited for Amy to pick up a load of 5 puppies that she would be responsible for getting to the Anchorage Animal Rescue. (Another teacher wanted them shipped out of the village. The average lifespan of a dog is quite short in Alakanuk. Many of them that you see are stray, mean, or dingy.)

Once she had the crate of puppies, I continued the path to the school which meant I had to heave my magenta suitcase and blue ice-chest up and down a set of wooden stairs that go over the above-ground sewer pipes. Going up was a task since I had my awkward luggage. Going down was even easier. My foot slipped on the snow-mounded steps and my snow-clothes provided a thin cushion for my quick ride down the other side of the steps.
I felt a nice bruise forming on my gluteus maximus, but managed a grin as a student came running towards me. "Jana! Jana!" He came waving an oversized envelope filled with penpal letters I was planning to mail from Anchorage. When he offered to carry something and I handed the cooler over, the look of surprise on his face made me smile. I explained to him that I was going to bring back meat and a ham for my classroom aide, Helen.
(On a side note, the students call the teachers by their first names here. At first, it felt somewhat unnatural after being called Miss Kandoll in years past. I was worried about kids not respecting me. However, now I realize many are turned off to the formality of addressing me or another adult as Miss Kandoll or Mister Whomever. Who ever thought that me being called Jana or wearing jeans and a sweatshirt would actually gain me some respect? But, the kids do respect me and I respect them, too. Without the forced formalities, we've created a classroom environment with natural loving respect.)
So 20 minutes later at 10:30AM, we were taking off the icy runway on the small bush plane. I still have to get used to the darkness and late dawns. Here is a shot of the sun rising above the cold tundra and the white Yukon.

We flew to St. Mary’s and waited in the busy one-room airport. As I called the doctor to try move my appointment from Friday to Thursday, I realized I hadn’t had time to use the restroom before leaving Alakanuk. The restroom had a clear piece of tape and a sign stating, “Out of Order.” In the bush, planes do not have restrooms aboard, so I knew I wasn’t able to go for a few more hours. I was prepared to ask them where a private place I could go outside was, when I saw the sign on the door also said there was a bathroom upstairs. So I walked out the door and up some plywood steps. In a place where the pilots ate, slept, and even played guitar, I was able to find a door that might as well have said “Glorious Relief”.

Once in Anchorage, I had the freedom of a rental car to be able to drive on a paved road and get to a doctor. After an x-ray of my sinuses, my doctor came to the conclusion that the facial numbness I have been experiencing is not due to a sinus infection, or Bell’s Palsy, but she didn’t know what it was. If the numbness continues a “couple more months” I’ll get lab work done to see if there is a possible vitamin B12 or other deficiencies.

As for my swollen tonsils, she carefully prescribed me an antibiotic I wasn’t supposed to be allergic to (I have an allergy to Sulfa meds) to heal my tonsillitis.

In Fred Meyer, I had my new prescription and a cart full of groceries to ship out to the village to do my grocery shopping. With some water and a granola bar, I took the first two pills thinking it would contribute to a victory. However, later a flushed skintone and eyeballs the color of my lips proved that I was yet again allergic to one more type of antibiotic.

Meanwhile, I got settled into my hotel room which I would be sharing with my parents. While I was out to eat with my amazing Alaska State New Teacher Mentor, I told her about the girl at the front desk earlier.

The view from the hotel room.

In a world where 98% of the population cannot spell the last name Kandoll, I was taken aback when she cheerfully quipped, “K-A-N-D-O-L-L?” while snapping her gum. I kept one hand on my suitcase and the other on the counter, while I wished I had one more hand to close my open jaw. “Yes, thank you.” While I listened to her acrylic nails peck at the keyboard, I added, “And I want to make sure it’s okay that my parents will also be staying in the room with me. Is it a double bed and do I need to pay more?”

The next few minutes, I’m not sure what all she said. Between her quick words, I heard “Your mother called me today!” “Oh wait, I feel so bad. Did I ruin the surprise??” After I assured her that I had already known and that the no surprise was ruined I started to wonder if there was more to the story. However, the fact that my parents had wanted to meet me in Anchorage while I was at the doctor was already a big treat.

My parents didn't fly in until late Thursday night or as my dad corrected me "early Friday morning." While I was waiting, I hung out with Amy at the hotel (also a teacher at Alakanuk who had scheduled doctor's appointments that weekend). If you zoom into that picture, you can see my eyes were just starting to get flushed from my allergic reaction to the first meds.

But when the clock struck 1:30AM at the Tedd Stevens International Airport, there they were—my parents. With a hug and the story of how silly I was to think anyone else might be possibly coming, I turned to walk through the doors exiting the terminal. When I turned to see if my parents were still following me, my brother and sister-in-law were right behind me! In some embarrassingly childish reactions, I welcomed seeing them for the first time since the Eindhoven train station in July.

Nathan, Tricia, Mom, Dad, and I packed into one hotel room for an old-fashioned SLEEPOVER! Also, in the picture, I'm opening a present from Nate. I had let him know that my students (and I) would love some of his artwork in the classroom. Here is a poster of Spiderman that he had had quickly printed to give me.

The weekend consisted of a mini-roadtrip where we made it only 5 miles in 45 minutes due to pull-out sight seeing stops every 20 yards, waking up from sore throat pains, filling my limited appetite with scrumptious food, and even a trip to purchase a snowmobile. I felt bad that my family spent most of their first trip to Anchorage waiting for me at the doctor because I ended up having to play phone tag all Friday, finally got into an on-call doctor Saturday, was given a different prescription, and had to try take it quickly to see if I would react to that antibiotic before heading back to the village. A quick but precious weekend with my family flew by. And then I flew back home--Alakanuk home.

While picking up Amy from her appointment, my mom and I spotted a moose.

Nate wanted to inspect the frozen shore of the Cook Inlet.

Farrrty McFatFat and MouMaster

Oh the places you'll go!

View Larger Map

For those of you who are my visual learners (that would include me), I posted a map to show the relation of the villages I have traveled so far. You can zoom out on the interactive Google map to see the villages. [A] is Hooper Bay was south of Alakanuk along the coast. The flight took about a forty-five minutes. On the flight back, I got the courage to ask if I could sit up front in the co-pilots seat. Taking off along the shore of the Bering Sea was a bit sketchy. It was so windy that the pilot had to point the nose of the plane almost perpendicular to the runway!


Flying to St. Mary's took about thirty minutes. St. Mary's shows up on the map as [C]. I should have put a destination [D] for Anchorage.

I'll be flying there again today, to head out to Anchorage for a doctor appointment. After discussing my issue of facial numbness around my left cheekbone with a couple dentists, they both feel this issue is not dentistry related. I have no idea what types of tests or questions they'll have for me when I get to Anchorage, but going to the doctor is no quick or easy thing around here. Figuring out new insurances, making phone calls to doctors, buying flights, and planning subplans was not the funnest.

And on top of that, I've had an extremely sore throat for three full days and nights now. We do have a clinic here in the village, but they don't have nurses or doctors. The place is fairly clean and functional. The man who asked me questions while I was getting a strep test (which was negative), told me he had been in jail 60 days for a domestic violence case that happened while he was on the clock. However, he saved the part for last about how he was really trying to stop a guy from committing suicide. So, the clinic was an interesting experience and apparently a wonderful place to go if you need a "poke" to jumpstart your antibiotics if you do have strep.

On the bright side, even if I'm sick and will be going to doctors appointments, my parents will be meeting me there. My dad has had some health issues of his own lately and it's tough to be separated when you need family. I'm happy that I get to see them (as well as food, paved roads, and coffee) on my quick trip!

I've been up since 3:30AM and it is now 6:13AM. I think I'm done gargling salt water, drinking hot tea, and typing on my blog.

More pictures of the river freezing up and snow soon to be added to the blog!